Does ethnic-racial visual representation in STEM college recruitment materials impact recruitment? A naturalistic field experiment

A naturalistic field experiment investigating the impact of ethnic-racial visual representation in STEM college recruitment materials found that materials featuring White and Asian STEM professionals led to stronger STEM engagement, identity, and intentions across all ethnic-racial backgrounds of admitted college students, compared to materials featuring Black and Latinx STEM professionals. This finding challenges common assumptions about diversity representation in recruitment strategies for ethnic-racial minoritized students (ERMs).

Why it matters

This research provides an empirical basis for re-evaluating current recruitment strategies that rely on visual ethnic-racial representation in STEM. It suggests that institutional efforts to enhance diversity may need to consider factors beyond visual cues in recruitment materials to effectively engage and attract students, potentially leading to more impactful resource allocation.

Key insights

• Higher education institutions frequently use diverse visual representation in STEM recruitment materials, specifically viewbooks, to attract ethnic-racial minoritized students (ERMs).
• The study was a naturalistic field experiment involving admitted college students from eight higher education institutions.
• Participants were exposed to STEM viewbooks displaying either White and Asian (non-ERM) or Black and Latinx (ERM) STEM professionals.
• Contrary to expectations, students from all ethnic-racial backgrounds (N=290) reported stronger STEM engagement, identity, and intentions after reviewing materials featuring White and Asian STEM professionals.
• The impact of visual representation on ERM psychological and behavioral outcomes in recruitment had not been experimentally tested prior to this study.

Source

Frontiers in Education — https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2026.1802231